""If we allow the pipeline to dry up now, it means we'll have no new innovation in cleantech coming through in five years' time," warns Sarah Mackintosh, director of CTUK and a former head of innovation at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy."
""Funders will be sitting there waiting for scale-ups and none will come," highlighting the critical need for early-stage investment in the cleantech sector."
""CTUK attributes the early-stage collapse to what it terms a 'triple squeeze': punishingly high industrial energy prices, the quiet closure last year of the Government's Net Zero Innovation Portfolio without a successor, and investor caution rooted in higher interest rates.""
""Westminster's recent decision to decouple gas and electricity prices is expected to deliver what Mackintosh calls a 'fairly immediate impact', yet it does little to address the underlying reality that British industrial energy costs remain among the dearest in Europe.""
Investment in Britain's youngest low-carbon and renewable energy companies has fallen to a five-year low, with early-stage deals halving in 2025. The number of transactions dropped from 188 in 2024 to 94 last year. Despite the overall sector attracting £7.2 billion, the early-stage collapse is attributed to high industrial energy prices, the closure of the Government's Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, and investor caution due to rising interest rates. The decoupling of gas and electricity prices may provide some relief, but high energy costs remain a significant challenge.
Read at Business Matters
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]